NAHANT — Upgrades are in store for Nahant’s well-worn community athletic courts.
According to Town Administrator Tony Barletta, the town received two bids earlier this month from independent contractors looking to take on a project updating the more than three-decades-old Flash Road facilities.
The upgrades are ultimately meant to help improve the overall visitor experience at one of Nahant’s most popular public parks.
“This park is arguably the central location for residents to participate in recreation, and it’s home to the largest Park League in town,” Barletta said. “The Flash Road basketball and tennis courts (in particular) have been in desperate need of repairs for many years.”
Referring to it as a “complete replacement project,” Barletta said the old courts will be demolished and replaced with new pavement, netting, fences, and paint, as well as new subgrade beneath the courts to improve drainage.
Although the project was approved and given $160,000 in funding through the Community Preservation Committee at last year’s Town Meeting, both independent contractor bids were well over that number, with Green Acres Landscape Construction and Heimlich Construction offering bids of $238,202 and $269,000, respectively.
However, Barletta said town officials consider the bids to be competitive numbers, which means it’s now up to Nahant to come up with a way to pay for the remaining costs. In order to prevent delaying the project, he added officials are now looking into grants and other funding opportunities.
“It’s a big project,” Barletta said. “There are a number of needs in this park and the courts are a first step towards improving the entire area.”
Until the town is able to find additional funding and award a contract, Barletta added it would be difficult to estimate a timeline for how long construction may take due to weather conditions.
“We’ll be exploring all our options and hope to get this project fully funded and then begin construction,” he said. “We believe in this project and consider it a high priority.”